Internet Pioneer Fastweb Celebrates its 15th Anniversary

On May 22, 1995, Fastweb brought scholarships to the Internet. It was the early days of the World Wide Web, and Fastweb was the first free scholarship matching site. By the end of its first day, 270 students had searched for scholarships on the site. And that’s when the legend began. Since its founding, Fastweb has helped more than 50 million students pay for school, and today there are more than 9 million active members. This year, Fastweb celebrates its 15th anniversary by looking back at how it all began. Fastweb was founded by Internet pioneer Larry Organ. The concept was huge for the time — Fastweb was one of the first 100 commercial websites in the United States. Not only was Fastweb a completely new type of business, it was a business with a noble purpose: to help students find money for college — for free. Back in those early days, the site went by a different name. A really basic web page started students’ scholarship search with two simple questions: “Want to be impressed?” and “What’s your major?” In its founding year the site boasted listings of more than 180,000 scholarships, grants, loans, and fellowships. Within a year, it was renamed “FastWEB”. In the early days of the web, acronyms were king. And Fastweb was no different—the name stood for (F)inancial (A)id (S)earch (T)hrough the (WEB). At this point, the site also began offering financial aid advice, written by nationally renowned financial aid expert, Mark Kantrowitz, founder of FinAid.org. Kantrowitz first started with Fastweb as a member of the Fastweb advisory board in 1995, helping launch Fastweb onto the web with technical advice and a prominent link from the FinAid site. He had already made a name for himself by creating the FinAid web site, giving free talks and advice to students about college financial aid and as the author of the Prentice Hall Guide to Scholarships and Fellowships for Math and Science Students. Kantrowitz won the Jefferson Medal from the American Institute for Public Service and a Meritorious Achievement Award from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators for his work on the FinAid site. In 1999 FinAid and Fastweb merged into a single organization. By then, the number of awards in Fastweb’s database had grown to 400,000 and thousands of schools across the country had begun recommending Fastweb to their students. On July 12, 2001, with CEO Leon Heller leading the company, Fastweb was acquired by Monster Worldwide, publisher of the Monster.com job search site. Their aim was to expand its reach into higher-education oriented sites. The relationship proved beneficial to both companies. By June of 2004, Fastweb had reached 25 million registered users. The number of awards in Fastweb’s database had also grown to 600,000. Kantrowitz said the company has continued to grow over the years because it has focused first on the needs of its members. “Fastweb has done well by doing good,” Kantrowitz said. “Fastweb’s long term focus on serving the needs of students and families has helped Fastweb remain the most popular scholarship matching site. And we continue to work on innovative ways of helping families plan and pay for college.” Today, Fastweb also provides members with student life articles and open discussion boards to allow students to communicate with other students preparing to go to school. After 15 years of helping students in their quest for an affordable education, a lot has changed, but the basics are still the same. What began as a free online matching service remains so today. Fastweb has always been 100 percent free to its members and the site’s mission is unchanged: help students pay for school. Fastweb continues to guide students through the confusing world of financial aid, and to provide practical insights on how to get in and make the most of their college education. And with 1.5 million scholarships in the database today, worth over $3.4 billion, Fastweb is still the leading scholarship search provider. After 15 years, Fastweb is still going strong. Here’s to 15 more!